Cal State Northridge management professor Jay Christensen has ten simple tips for making the process easier.

"In these hard economic times, it's important to take the tools of the job search, especially the resume, seriously," Christensen said. "Your resume represents your image. Therefore, the key point is to pay attention to accomplishments as you update, and make sure the resume represents you."

Christensen pointed out that September has been declared "International Update Your Resume Month" by the Professional Resume Writing and Research Association.

"It's the perfect time to take a look at your resume and make sure that it says what you want it to say about you," he said.

Christensen has ten items to keep in mind as you put together your resume:

1. Put down a job objective and focus.
2. Make sure you use active verbs everywhere, such as "Manage 10 employees in Production Department."
3. Check your e-mail address for a professional listing instead of something like sexgay@xyz.com.
4. Do not lie on your resume by using false dates, false job titles, false jobs and false degrees.
5. Place your most important information on the first page of a two-page or longer resume.
6. Use bulleted accomplishments, not duties and responsibilities, such as "Prepared and sorted legal documents to enhance attorney filings."
7. Include a bulleted summary of qualifications for the desired job.
8. Use electronic resumes and web portfolios wherever possible.
9. Save references for the interview.
10. Organize your resume with a readable, clear and space-oriented format.

For more information on resumes and employment communications, Christensen suggested a visit to his Web site at http://www.csun.edu/~vcecn006/jobsear.html.